Good morning.

All library books should now be returned to school.  Please return books by the end of the week.

8ELA

-Pink questions are due today.  Here are some things to check before you submit:  title bar with an interesting and unique title, single indent or block style, proofreading for spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar, eight sentences, text quotes (with page numbers), transition words, an interesting intro sentence that hints at the sentences to follow, and an interesting, summarizing concluding sentence.  Did you check for all these things?  Please submit these by end of day today.

8SS

-We're starting a new unit today:  The Middle Ages!  When I give you that title, what do you think about?  Most people will think kings, castles, fairy tales, dragons and unicorns while others think about knights, siege weapons, and the plague.  We'll learn how these topics all became part of the history of the Middle Ages.
-Open your text to page 218 and 219; review the list of topics for this unit.  The Middle Ages covers a period of time from the fall of Rome to about 1500 CE.  The first 500 years 500 to 1000 CE are called the dark ages; read the green box on page 218.  
-It was called the dark ages because literature, art, and learning declined, there was much war and few people wrote the history of the times—why?--too busy trying to survive!  Remember, the

 barbarians are coming from the north and the east--the empire is being invaded by people who are "different" from Romans--they don't share the same culture or values

-Let’s take a quick overview of the important events during this time; watch the following video:

-https://youtu.be/6EAMqKUimr8

-We see from the video that the people of Europe moved from a time of darkness and struggle to a rebirth of learning and the arts (Renaissance)

-One factor that allowed order to come to the people was a political system called feudalism

-Read handout; if you're able, print them and highlight as we would in class.

-Do the following questions; they are due on Monday.  I will also be starting a new topic on Monday.

Feudalism

1.  We see that Charlemagne brought stability to western Europe but when he died, his empire wasn’t maintained.  We see that the Vikings were making regular invasions into western Europe.  From this information, explain how feudalism developed.  /2

2.  Provide simple definitions for each a)  king  b)  vassal  c)  knights  d)  fief  /4

3.  Explain /Define feudalism in one, kid-friendly sentence.  /1

4.  What does it mean when a vassal is “doing homage”?  /1

5.  How was a knight different from a mercenary knight?  /2

6.  Draw a population pyramid for the feudal system; include the following groups:  peasants, serfs, knights, king, vassal.  We did this in our Egypt unit; draw a triangle and put each group of Middle Ages society on a level within the triangle



**Create a date chart and a Who’s Who

7SS

-We’ve spent time looking at the UDHR; a document created by many countries around the world to be used as a guideline for creating laws within countries

-We looked at South Africa’s apartheid system and how it did not apply the UDHR to all its citizens

-We spent a lot of time learning about governments, individuals, and organizations affecting quality of life

-Today we’ll look at a government system and think about its impact on quality of life

-What is democracy?  How can Canadians be active/contribute to being a democratic citizen?  Maybe you learned some ideas in grade 6 SS.

-Read text p. 100-102

-Complete the following questions; I'll be collecting homework on Monday.

Democracy Basics

1.  Democracy has five characteristics.  This means that democracy “looks” like this (not like that).  Identify the five characteristics of democracy.  /5

2.  In your home, your family uses informal democracy because your family is a small group (under 10).  Explain the meaning of informal democracy.  Give an example of how informal democracy would probably work in a school setting.  /2

3.  Canada as a nation uses a formal democracy:  representative democracy.  Define representative democracy.  /1

4.  Define constitution.  Why is it necessary for a formal democracy to have a constitution (think about what our government would look like without a constitution!).  /2

5.  Tell me two things about Athenian democracy.  /2

6.  The British Magna Carta is a constitution created in 1215.  How did this document make life better for people in Britain?  /2

7.  The USA created the American Constitution in 1787.  How did this document make life better for people in America?  /2

8.  The Iroquois League of Canada used a democratic system.  How did this League make life better for people within the tribes?  /2